Processes and devices for numbering documents, and the documents so numbered

ABSTRACT

To render difficult the falsification of the last digits of the number of a ticket, for each last digit a series of the ten digits 0 to 9 is printed on this ticket by plate-printing and all the digits except the one desired of each series are cancelled by marks printed in typographic ink. The first digits of the number can also by printed in typographic ink.

United States Patent Inventor Jacques Koszul Vanves, France Appl. No. 726,685 Filed May 6, 1968 Patented June 29, 1971 Assignee lmprimerie Chaix-Desiosses-Neomgravure Paris, France Priority May 8, 1967 France 105,571

PROCESSES AND DEVICES FOR NUMBERING DOCUMENTS, AND THE DOCUMENTS SO NUMBERED 2 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl l0l/426, 283/9 Int. Cl r. 342d 15/00 Field 01 Search 283/6, 810, 12; 35/9,48.l, 48, 9.1;117/1,1.5; 101/371, 373

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 481,296 8/1892 Brooks 101/371 1,277,570 9/1918 Groschupp. 283/12 1,538,182 5/1925 Focke 101/395 2,122,412 7/1938 Flood 101/90 FOREIGN PATENTS 8,725 5/1898 Great Britain 283/12 15,815 4/1913 Great Britainm. 283/12 1,188,160 3/1959 France 283/8 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey Assistant Examiner-Clifi'ord D. Crowder Attorney-Waters, Roditi & Schwartz ABSTRACT: To render difficult the falsification of the last V digits of the number of a ticket, for each last digit a series of the ten digits 0 to 9 is printed on this ticket by plate-printing and all the digits except the one desired of each series are cancelled by marks printed in typographic ink. The first digits of the number can also by printed in typo-graphic ink.

PATENTEI] JUN29 :92:

PROCESSES AND DEVICES FOR NUMBERING DOCUMENTS, AND THE DOCUMENTS S NUMBERED The present invention relates to processes and devices for numbering (the expression numbering being understood in a very general sense including identification by other symbols than digits, for example by letters). The invention relates more particularly, but not exclusively, to processes and devices of this kind, for numbering tickets, in particular lottery tickets, for which it is desired to render the falsification of the numbers impossible.

The invention also relates to the documents (lottery tickets or otherwise) of paper, cardboard, plastic or other material, numbered by these processes and with these devices; these documents will be designated by the term tickets" in the following for the sake of the clarity of the description, but this term is intended not to limit the invention in any way.

An object of the present invention is to render these processes, devices and tickets such that they meet the various requirements of practice, in particular with respect to the impossibility of falsification of at least certain of the digits of the numbers of these tickets.

According to the present invention, the process of the type in question comprises, principally, a first step of reproducing at least one series of different identification symbols, such as the series of digits from 0 to 9, on the tickets to be numbered, by a process whose results are difficult to falsify, such as in taglio or copper plate printing lithography-offset or embossing, and then a second step of cancelling all these symbols except one by a simple method such as typographic printing, this latter method being preferably exploited conjointly to reproduce on the tickets to be numbered other symbols, such as the first digits of a number whose last digits would each be the sole digit remaining intact of a series having undergone a cancellation such as indicated hereabove.

According to the present invention, a device of the type in question, used for assuring the cancellation mentioned above, comprises principally, for each series of symbols to be cancelled, a cancellation system having as many cancellation areas as symbols to be cancelled, these areas being distributed on this system in the same manner as these symbols are distributed on the tickets to be numbered, preferably circularly or according to a straight line, and means for shifting this system by one area, preferably automatically, between two successive cancellations.

According to the present invention, the numbered tickets comprise principally at least one series of symbols reproduced in a manner difficult to falsify, in particular by pirate printing, all the symbols of this series except one being cancelled, in particular by typographic ink marks, and preferably, moreover, other symbols reproduced in the same manner as this cancellation.

Various other features of the invention will become apparent from the following specific description, given merely by way of example, of particular embodiments of the invention as applied to lottery tickets. These particular embodiments are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGS. ll, 2 and 3 show respectively three numbered lottery tickets according to three distinct variations of the invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show, respectively in axial section and in a partial end view, a part of a device according to the invention permitting a ticket such as shown in FIG. I to be numbered;

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show, respectively in axial section, in partial end view and in transverse section along VIII-VIII of FIG. 6, a part of another device according to the invention permitting a ticket such as shown in FIG. 2 to be numbered;

FIGS. 9, and I] show, respectively in axial section and in transverse sections along X-X and Xl-XI of FIG. 9, a part of another device according to the invention permitting a ticket such as shown in FIG. 3 to be numbered;

And FIG. I2 shows very schematically the general shape of a press bed intended for the numbering of 12 tickets by means ofdevices like the device shown in FIGS. 9 to Ill.

Before considering the drawings in detail, it is appropriate to recall that, in certain lotteries, relatively modest lots are attributed to the tickets whose numbers terminate by a given digit or by a given pair of digits.

in contrast to the large lots, which correspond to ticket numbers comprising a number of correct digits greater than two, these small lots are distributed to the holders of winning tickets, on the simple presentation of these tickets, by numerous, dispersed officials who do not have sure means at their disposal for detecting possible ffrauds.

It is thus important that the last digit (or the last two or three digits) of the numbers of these tickets are reproduced in a manner preventing any falsification.

This result is obtained, according to the present invention, by reproducing each last digit in question on the tickets by the preliminary plate printing of a complete series of the digits 0 to 9 and by the subsequent cancelling of the nine digits of this series that do not correspond to the desired digit, the first digits of the number to be reproduced being advantageously printed by this cancellation itself, which is preferably executed in typography.

On the ticket I of FIG. 1 (whose number reads 125.624), there has been reproduced:

first of all, by plate printing patterns 2 which are difficult to imitate and two rings 3 of 10 digits intended to form respectively the tens digit (D) and the units digit (U) of the number,

then, by typography, the four first digits of the number of the ticket (125.6) and two marks 4 in the form of incomplete circles masking respectively all the digits of the first ring except the 2 and all those of the second ring except the 4.

The ticket 5 of FIG. 2 differs simply from the previous ticket in that the two rings 6 of 10 digits intended to form respective ly the tens digit (D) and the units digit (U) are concentric instead of being identical and disposed side by side. The marks 7 mask the unwanted digits. As will be seen later on, the printing of such a ticket is simpler than that of the ticket 1, but the number finally printed is often less readible, since the tens digit can be on the right of the units digit.

The ticket 8 of FIG. 3 differs from the two previous tickets in that the ten digits of each series printed by plate printing are aligned in columns 9, the marks which mask the unwanted digits having here the form ofaligned squares 10.

To print on the ticket 1 each of the marks 4, a cancelling member 11 (FIGS. 4 and 5) is used presenting a fiat surface 12 to the typographic inking; this surface 12 is in the form of a nearly closed C or ofa circular ring open at 13.

Between two successive cancellations, this member 11 undergoes an angular displacement in a manner that will be described in detail a little later on, which makes the space 13 progress angularly by one step: accordingly the digit of the corresponding ring 3 of the ticket 1, which remains intact after cancellation by the member 11, progresses by one unit from one cancellation to the next.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 6 to 8, the single ring cancelling member 11 described above is replaced by a member presenting for inking two concentric flat rings 14 and 15 open respectively at 16 and 17.

The interior ring 14 is rigid with a shaft 18 on which is keyed a ratchet-wheel 19 adapted to coact with a ratchet-wheel 29 and a counterpawl 21 urged towards this wheel by springs 22 and 23 (FIG. 8).

The exterior ring 15 is n'gid with a tube 24 through which the shaft 18 passes. On this tube is keyed a second ratchetwheel 25 adapted to coact with the pawl 20 and counterpawl 21 mentioned above in the following manner.

The two ratchet-wheels 19 and 25 are identical and each comprises 10 teeth, with the sole difference that one 26 of the notches of the wheel 25 is deeper than the others. As for the pawl 20, it comprises two offset active parts, one 27 adapted to coact normally with the wheel 25 and the other 28 recessed and adapted to coact with the wheel 19 only when the part 27 is housed in the bottom of the notch 26.

Accordingly, each reciprocation of the pawl 20 (controlled for example by a rod 29) results in a rotation of 36 of the wheel 25 and of the ring 15, and only every l reciprocation results in a rotation of 36 of the wheel 19 and of the ring 14.

The reciprocation of the rod 29 is controlled in any desirable manner, preferably from the reciprocation of the bed which carries the cancelling mechanism comprising this rod (this bed moving past a rotary cylinder of fixed axis carrying the sheet to be cancelled, in a manner known in itself), for example by abutment of this rod against adjustable abutments fixed at the two ends of the stroke of this bed.

The mechanism of FIG. 4 comprises the ratchet-wheel l9 rigid with the member 11 and actuated in this case very simply by each of the reciprocations of the pawl 20 mounted on the rod 29, the counterpawl 21 still preventing angular displacement of the wheel 19 during the inactive return of the pawl 20.

The "rotary embodiments that have just been described are of a particularly simple construction.

But they require a number of mechanisms equal to the number of tickets that it is wished to cancel for a single movement of the bed.

A linear" embodiment will now be described, with reference to H08. 9 to 11, in which the intermittent advance mechanism is common to a plurality of series of aligned cancelling areas each intended to cancel a ticket of the type represented in FIG. 3.

Here the cancelling areas 30, instead of forming part of rings each made in a single piece, are mounted on the successive links 31 of two parallel endless chains 32 per series of nine areas, these series being separated from each other by empty intervals 33.

To assure the parallelism of the useful areas, the corresponding links of the chains slide along rectilinear guides 34.

These chains mesh respectively with pinions 35 and 36 which drive them.

The driving of these pinions is assured in the same manner as the driving of the rings M and mentioned above by ratchet-wheels 37 and 38 rigid respectively with the pinions 35 and 36, each of these ratchet-wheels 37 and 38 coacting with a pawl 39 and a counterpawl 40.

As in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the pawl comprises two offset parts and one of the ratchet-wheels comprises a notch deeper than the others so that the longitudinal reciprocation of a single control rod 4] results each time in a progression of one chain, and one time in 10, in the progression of the other chain.

in order to reduce the height, the pawl 39 of FIG. 11 is not mounted directly on the rod 41, but on an intermediate piece 42 mounted pivotably about the axle of the wheels and actuated by the rod 41.

lf the tickets 8 to be numbered for a single reciprocation of the bed are twelve in number, distributed in two groups of six juxtaposed side by side as shown schematically in FIG. 12, it is sufficient to use two pairs of parallel chains 32, each of these pairs assuring the cancellation of six tickets and being actuated by a single pawl mechanism and a single control rod.

Alternatively, all the chains 32 can be controlled by means of a single mechanism by mounting certain of the pinions which support all these chains on an appropriate telescopic shaft 43 adapted to transmit the various displacements produced by this mechanism.

The relative positions of the empty intervals 33 corresponding to a given chain 32 with respect to the various tickets 8 to be cancelled are the same: in other words, all the last tickets of the numbers reproduced for example on the six tickets 8 on the left of FIG. 12 are 4's for a given cancellation.

As in general it is wished to avoid that two identical tickets carry the same number, different plate printed patterns can be provided for the different tickets 8 in question. Or again, if these patterns are all identical, one of the other digits which are printed bg typogra hy on these tickets 8 by conventional decimal num erers wil be progressively shifted by one unit: in

this latter case, it can be advantageous to cancel 10 tickets (and not l2) for each reciprocation of the bed.

lt will be appreciated that whatever embodiment is adopted, the present invention provides relatively simple means for reproducing on a lottery ticket the last digit (or the last two or three digits) of its number, while rendering the falsification of this last digit (or of these last digits) practically impossible: the falsification of such as digit would require not only the cancellation of the digit intact, but also, and above all, the integral cleaning of the cancelled digit desired and of its immediate surroundings; this operation is rendered impossible by the fineness and the fragility of the plate printed lines composing this last digit and the background on which it is printed, and possibly also by the nature of the cancelling ink, which can be chosen in a manner to render impossible its elimination independently of the ink that has served for the plate printing inking.

Many modifications of the particular embodiments described are possible. For example, all the digits of the numbers of the tickets can be reproduced in the manner described above, not only its last digit or its last digits.

in view of the various modifications that can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, the invention should not be limited to the particular embodiments described.

I claim:

I. A process of applying identification symbols on a document comprising printing the first digits of a number and at least one last digit of said number on the document in separate regions thereof, the printing of the first digits being effected by typographic printing, the printing of said at least one last digit being effected by first plate printing on said document the series of digits from 0 to 9 and then cancelling all but one of said series of digits by typographic printing.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cancelling operation of all but one of the series of digits and the printing of the first digits of the number are effected together. 

1. A process of applying identification symbols on a document comprising printing the first digits of a number and at least one last digit of said number on the document in separate regions thereof, the printing of the first digits being effected by typographic printing, the printing of said at least one last digit being effected by first plate printing on said document the series of digits from 0 to 9 and then cancelling all but one of said series of digits by typographic printing.
 2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the cancelling operation of all but one of the series of digits and the printing of the first digits of the number are effected together. 